


Coding Error

by PoutyBats



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Angst, M/M, Slight fluff, Vladimir is at the top of the food chain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28795842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoutyBats/pseuds/PoutyBats
Summary: “You know what I think?” Vladimir hums, “I think all the rumors saying you’ve lost your humanity are a load of bullshit, darling. I think you know very well what a human feels, isn’t that right?”---Vladimir pays Viktor a visit.
Relationships: Viktor/Vladimir (League of Legends)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Coding Error

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Viktor (@gloriousviktor) for supporting me! This was challenging, but fun to write. Enjoy!
> 
> Twitter: @sgtspacedad76

“You’ll never listen, will you? You’ve always been insane! I don’t know why I try.”

The figure turns away and leaves. Once the door closes Viktor counts to sixty before shouting out. He bangs his fist on the table and loose pieces of metal scatter to the floor. He hangs his head as he tries to forget the encounter. The door opens once again and Viktor reaches for the small robot he was working on before he was interrupted. He turns around and aims it, but stops himself when he realizes it isn’t the same person. 

Standing in front of him is not a certain Piltover man, but rather a Noxian with a dastardly reputation. 

Vladimir stands before Viktor dressed in his usual attire. Other than the man’s hair, he is covered in red. His eyes alone would make any predator in the wild stop dead in their tracks and flee. They remind Viktor of magma waiting to burst out and consume everything in its path. 

“Oh my, and here I thought you weren’t supposed to have any feelings. Aren’t feelings a major human flaw?” Vladimir chuckles, closing the door behind him. “I don’t blame you, the look on that man made me furious too.”

Viktor grunts, brushing the man’s words off. The room grows quiet and he bends down to pick up the fallen scraps from his moment of weakness. Everything he finds has value and can be tampered with to provide progress. The metal sheet isn’t much on its own, but formed together with the others it can become an unstoppable machine. 

He reaches over to his tools, but instead of cold steel, his fingers are met with something a lot less pleasant. 

Skin. 

“Touchy are we?” Vladimir grins, having taken a seat on Viktor’s desk. 

“Get off.”

“I got your attention though, didn’t I? I’m not exactly here to watch you play with your toys, you know. I’m here on business.” 

After a beat Viktor sighs in defeat. “What do the Noxians want now? The machines to help your fallen are not ready yet.”

“Oh I don’t care about any of that.”

“You just said-,” Viiktor stops himself, staring at Vladimir as the man laughs. 

Vladimir meets his gaze and they remain that way for a few seconds. The moment is broken when Vladimir reaches over and places his fingers against Viktor’s cheek. Viktor considers eviscerating him instantly, but something stops him. He’s unsure what gives him pause. Perhaps he knows he’s an important asset to the Noxians, or maybe it’s the touch of flesh that isn’t violent. Whatever the reason may be, Viktor lets his guest continue. 

Fingers trail over his cheek. It’s faint through his mask, but he can trace their movements. Vladimir’s hand brushes across Viktor’s covered face slowly, carefully. 

“You know what I think?” Vladimir hums, “I think all the rumors saying you’ve lost your humanity are a load of bullshit, darling. I think you know very well what a human feels, isn’t that right?” 

The hand on Viktor’s face moves to his neck and suddenly it’s too much all at once. 

Viktor is back at his old university work room, seated in a chair with large fingers in his hair, pulling him forward into a kiss. 

He’s watching as blue eyes turn away from his, the feeling of betrayal swarming around his skin. 

He sits helplessly in an alley in Zaun as the realization of how much life was lost dawns on him. 

With a yell, Viktor pulls away from Vladimir’s hand. “What did you do to me?”

Vladimir chuckles, and when Viktor looks up he can see strands of red floating in the air. He swallows thickly at the sight, knowing what Vladimir is but unable to make sense of it logically. In an instant, the red flows back into Viktor’s body and he collapses onto his knees. 

“I’m sorry about that, you’re just not much of a talker. I figured I’d delve into things myself.” Vladimir kneels down, placing a hand on Viktor’s shoulder. “You’ll feel fine soon, the first time is always strange.” 

The room feels like it’s spinning as Viktor stares at the ground. With a pained grunt he reaches up and unfastens the latches of his mask. He pulls it off and lets the cool air of the room ground him back to reality. “What gives you the right-,” The words die on his tongue as he looks up. Vladimir stares back at him, red eyes digging into his very soul. They seem warm, a bright ember so strong it turns Viktor’s own anger into ashes. 

“That man who left here earlier, he’s wounded you, hasn’t he? I know it is none of my business, but why do you let him affect you like this? He is just another person in the end.” 

“He is a genius,” Viktor’s teeth clench together as the words escape him. 

Vladimir gives him a look. 

“The most idiotic genius you will ever meet. He could help me if he simply sat down and thought about it for one mere moment, but instead he visits me and tries to convince me I am wrong.” Viktor growls, using the table to help himself stand. He leans on it for support as he looks down at the floor. 

"Did you know children are the ones who appreciate my technology the most? Everyday I help someone feel what it's like to run and play with their friends again. It's because of these tools that a child can go home to their mother and see her smile for the first time in years. It's because of them," Viktor gestures to one of his mechanical golems,"that so many are even able to breathe! How can anyone argue with that? How can Jayce tell me that I am the monster in this story?"

“No one takes you seriously when you’re talking about a new art that they don’t understand,” Vladimir says, standing up and shifting his weight onto one leg. 

Viktor’s mouth straightens into a line and his eyebrows pinch together, “A new art is one way to put it.”

“I prefer it over abomination, don’t you?”

“That is fair.”

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my lifetime. Humans don’t like change, love. They can’t accept that they aren’t perfect, and that without change they will slowly kill themselves to the point of extinction. Then again, with the way they’ve made sure other species are nothing but history, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Humanity is flawed, but I will save it.” Viktor clenches his fists by his side before bringing his mask back up to his face. He adjusts it several times until it perfectly covers him. He makes the fit tighter than usual, ashamed of the emotions that he let slip out. 

“I know you will. You’re so very interesting, Viktor. I cannot wait to see what you have in store. I’ll be back. For now, I have a few hemomancers to reel in. I recommend not going outside for a few hours.” Vladimir gives him a toothy smile and takes his leave. 

With a sigh, Viktor locks the door to his laboratory. He will have to deal with a few confused unfortunate souls later, no doubt. 

As he returns to the tools on his table once more, a thought has him gripping the edge of the table instead of metal. 

Vladimir called him love. 

How strange. No one has ever called him such a thing before. Does he even know what love is anymore? 

If the blush that warms his face is an answer, it never sees the light of day.

\--- 

Vladimir walks down the streets of Zaun with a smile that would make him stick out, if his regal attire wasn’t already making him. As he casually tugs threads of blood out of a man yelling at a child, Vladimir laughs to himself. The red strands form in the air and become the silhouette of a masked man and a canvas.

Ignoring the now fallen man behind him and the sound of a child screaming, he stares at the figures he’s created. “Oh my, my tongue slipped back there. He looked so much like the one man I can’t forget. I almost didn’t want to put his blood back. I’ll be keeping a _very_ close eye on you, Viktor.” The masked silhouette swirls around until it is nothing but a few strands once more. Vladimir flicks behind him and the red disappears from his control. 

Whether or not it makes it back into the body it came from isn’t something he cares to check.


End file.
